Baggage Fees Bring In More Than $3.5 Billion for U.S. Airlines

Baggage fees help pad the bottom line for U.S. airlines, giving the industry a $3.5 billion cushion in 2013. Ancillary fees, including baggage fees, are essential for airline profitability and are up an estimated 89-percent in the last 3 years. Delta, which had the largest domestic market share last year at 16-percent, took in more than $830 million in baggage fees, followed by United with almost $625 million and U.S. Airways rounding out the top three with nearly $530 million.